UPDATE: Suspicious Package Cleared as Safe

by Wes Mayer

The package was cleared as safe by a special team with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

UPDATE: The suspicious package found in front of the west entrance to the downtown Newnan courthouse has been identified as a box of paperwork, according to authorities.

The package was cleared as safe by a special team with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation around 10:12 a.m. According to Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager, the GBI team used their robotic bomb disposal unit to get closer to the package and determined there was only paperwork and pamphlets inside.

The package was found around 8:20 a.m. and authorities were contacted. To be safe, the downtown streets were closed and people were evacuated from the area. The streets reopened to traffic around 10:28 a.m.

Original story:

Downtown Newnan has been closed off by authorities due to a suspicious package found on the west side of the historic courthouse.

Nobody has been able to identify or claim the package, which is a brown box about a foot wide and eight inches tall.

Authorities are asking that everyone stay away from this area until they can investigate and make sure that it is safe to return.